Simcenter Testing Solutions What is the acoustic quantity called Q?

2019-08-29T16:35:44.000-0400

Simcenter Testlab

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Siemens-PLM-Transfer-Path-Analysis.pdf (5 MB)

Direct YouTube link: https://youtu.be/ENBdthp_eIA

What is Q? What is it used for?

The letter Q is often used to refer to VolumeAcceleration. VolumeAcceleration, or Q, can be thought of as the equivalent of an acoustic force. It has units of m3/s2.

For a mechanical system, Newton's Second Law of motion is F=ma. F is the force input into the system, a is the acceleration response output, and m is the mass. For an acoustic system, the Volume Acceleration (Q) is equivalent to the force in a mechanical system, and sound pressure (P) is the equivalent to the acceleration output response.

Volume Acceleration

At first, it may not be intuitive how “VolumeAcceleration” is equivalent to acoustic force. The easiest way to visualize “VolumeAcceleration” is to think of it as Area (m2) multiplied by Acceleration (m/s2)

If one visualizes a speaker, imagine dividing the speaker surface areas into a series of small areas. In the center of each area, place an accelerometer. The total acoustic force that the speaker produces would be the sum of individual areas times their respective accelerations.

User-added image

In practice, one must divide the surface into smaller and smaller areas as the desired frequency for analysis increases.

A vehicle dash panel broken into small areas for measuring Q.

In other words, the higher the frequency, the smaller the area patches. This is due to the change in the wavelength of sound.

As a rule of thumb, the width dimension or length dimension of the area should be 1/6 of the wavelength of sound for the highest frequency of interest.

What can Q be used for?

Utilizing a device called a Qsource acoustic exciter, it is possible to take some interesting measurements by generating a known Q.

Mid-High Frequency Q-source: The tip of the nozzle is where a calibrated Q is generated.

Traditionally, when performing a measurement campaign to quantify the acoustic paths of a structure, one might employ an impact hammer (which measures force) and measure the acoustic response (sound pressure) with a microphone. This would result in a Frequency Response Function, or FRF, between the input location (perhaps a motor mount) and receiver location (a driver ear).

To quantify the sound contribution for a structure that had a motor attached to it at four locations, this could require 12 separate impact measurements: applying a force via an impact hammer at 4 separate mount locations in three different directions. The result is 12 separate Pressure/Force (P/F) transfer functions.

Using the Qsource, one could do these 12 measurements at a single time.

Putting the Qsource at the acoustic response location of interest, and accelerometers on the mount attachment locations, the measurement is performed at one time.

This is because P/F = A/Q, as shown below:

P = Sound Pressure in Pascals (Pa)
F = Force in Newtons (N)
A = Acceleration (m/s2)
Q = VolumeAcceleration (m3/s2)

P/F = N/m2/N = 1/m2
A/Q = m/s2/m3/s2 = 1/m2

Both P/F and A/Q reduce to the same units of 1/m2, making them equivalent.

Using a Qsource with Simcenter Testlab

To take a measurement with the Qsource using Simcenter Testlab (formerly LMS Test.Lab), it can be attached to the source output of a Simcenter SCADAS through a built-in stereo amplifier cable. The Qsource will produce a sound field. There is a BNC connector on the Qsource which outputs the Q signal.

For reference, click here for videos on Qsource setup.

The source output of the SCADAS is connected to the Q-source via an amplifier. The output of the Q-source is fed into a SCADAS data channel.

In the "Channel setup" worksheet, select the following:

Set "Measured Quantity" to "VolumeAcceleration"
Set "Input Mode" to either ICP or Voltage, depending on the type of Q-source (will be indicated on calibration sheet)
Enter the calibration factor from the calibration sheet into the "Actual Sensitivity" field. The field should be "mV/m3/s2".

Simcenter Testlab "Channel Setup" worksheet for Q-source

Much of the information to fill in comes from the Qsource calibration sheet.

Q-source calibration sheet shows necessary information to use with Simcenter Testlab.

The source can be setup as random in "Scope" worksheet of Simcenter Testlab Spectral Acquisition.

Source setup in "Scope" worksheet

And select "FRF" as the measurement to save in the "Test Setup" worksheet of Simcenter Testlab Spectral Acquisition.

In the Simcenter Testlab "Test Setup" worksheet, check on "Measure" and "Save" under the FRF tab.

After performing the measurement, and viewing the FRF in a display, the FRF can be viewed as P/F rather than A/Q by right clicking on the Y-axis and selecting "Unit".

Comparison of Impact Measurements vs Qsource measurements

Taking reciprocal FRF measurements with Qsource yields equivalent results to impact hammer FRF measurements, but in less time.

Comparison of Impact Measurement vs Q-Source Reciprocal Measurement

See the Transfer Path Analysis White Paper for more information on using a Qsource for vibro-acoustic troubleshooting.

Note: Even though the Qsource outputs Volume Acceleration, sometimes the sources are referred to as Volume Velocity sources.

Further questions? Email peter.schaldenbrand@siemens.com or contact Siemens Support Center.

Check out the On-Demand Acoustic Webinars.

More Acoustic Tips:

KB Article ID# KB000043066_EN_US

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